Tommaso Ciampa Is Dream Opponent for Johnny Gargano After Loss vs. Andrade Almas

With Andrade "Cien" Almas successfully defending the NXT Championship against Johnny Gargano at NXT TakeOver: Philadelphia on Saturday night, Johnny Wrestling is perfectly positioned to transition into a feud with former tag team partner Tommaso Ciampa.

Saturday marked a major disappointment for Gargano, but it may still pale in comparison to the breakup of DIY at NXT TakeOver: Chicago in May 2017.

Gargano and Ciampa broke into NXT together, and after multiple failed attempts, they won the NXT Tag Team Championships from The Revival at NXT TakeOver: Toronto in November 2016.

DIY dropped the titles to The Authors of Pain at the next NXT special, which led to one final opportunity to get the straps back in Chicago.

After a hard-fought ladder match that saw DIY fall just short against AOP, Ciampa shocked NXT fans by viciously attacking his best friend.

The feud between Ciampa and Gargano had to be put on hold, however, since Ciampa suffered a knee injury in the days leading up to NXT TakeOver: Chicago, which required him to miss a significant amount of time.

Even with Ciampa on the shelf, there were constant reminders of the issue between him and Gargano. In addition to social media exchanges, there were often callbacks to the rivalry during some of Johnny Wrestling's matches.

The most obvious example of that came at NXT TakeOver: Brooklyn III in August 2017.

Gargano opened that card in a match against Almas, and Cien came out on top when Zelina Vega distracted Gargano.

Vega threw a shirt at Gargano, and it was revealed after the match that it was a DIY shirt, which contributed to Gargano losing his focus.

He was eventually able to get back on track, and by virtue of beating Aleister Black, Killian Dain and Lars Sullivan in a Fatal 4-Way, Gargano became the No. 1 contender for the NXT Championship.

Gargano has an underdog, Daniel Bryan-esque element to him, which made his elevation to No. 1 contender a galvanizing situation for NXT fans.

Every underdog needs to overcome some form of adversity, and Ciampa is the perfect person to provide that heading toward NXT TakeOver: New Orleans the night before WrestleMania 34.

There has been a lull of sorts in NXT since Bobby Roode and Asuka were moved up to the main roster, but a feud between Gargano and Ciampa at the biggest TakeOver of the year could go a long way toward creating buzz.

The story between them is arguably the best NXT has ever seen, and it is already obvious that they have in-ring chemistry as opponents based on the fantastic match they had against each other in the Cruiserweight Classic.

Gargano against Ciampa is a match NXT fans have been clamoring for over the past several months, and even though the title won't be involved when it happens, it promises to be the focal point of NXT programming at that time.

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